CN and China's CNBM Forest Products Trading Ltd. recently reached an agreement to use the Class I's new lumber transload facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, to increase supply chain capacity for Canadian lumber exports.
CN plans to launch operations at the lumber container export facility — which is located at Thornton Yard in Surrey, B.C. — in the fall. The initial eight-acre facility will have throughput capacity of about 10,000 containers annually and will make it easier to transport lumber to export markets in China, CN officials said in a prepared statement.
“Lumber exports to China now account for close to 25 percent of the western Canadian total and are expected to continue to increase at a fast pace in the years to come,” said Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “CN aims to foster a world-class export supply chain for Canadian lumber in cooperation with CNBM Forest Products Trading, lumber producers in B.C., and ocean shipping lines serving Port Metro Vancouver.”
CN also announced plans to increase lumber transload capacity at its Prince George, B.C., distribution center to more than 30,000 containers annually. The facility was built in 2007 to support Port of Prince Rupert lumber exports.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
